Gold medallist vists inspires sporting pupils

Sporting pupils at Kirton Middlecott Academy in were left ‘inspired’ by a visit from a Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Judo champion Nekoda Davis spent a day at the academy meeting students and delivering an assembly about what it takes to become an elite athlete.

She also ran training sessions for each year group to inspire them to think about trying different sports.

“It was a real pleasure meeting the students,” said Nekoda. “I started Judo at the age of six, and had to balance my training with my studies, sometimes it was tough, but passing my exams was really important to me.”

She continued: “My personal motto is train hard, win easy. I know that if something doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you.”

As part of the day, Nekoda also met some of the academy’s aspiring athletes, Artjoms Jurkjans, who has just been entered for the British Schools Judo Championships and Megan Featherstone, Junior Commonwealth Tae-Kwondo Champion.

Year 11 pupil Megan said: “It was so inspiring to meet Nekoda and talk about how she balanced school work and training and how she made the next move into becoming a professional athlete.”

School principal Mrs Polley said: “This is just one example of the kind of opportunities that Thomas Middlecott Academy are able to access through the David Ross Education Trust.

“What was particularly inspiring for the students was that the disciplines of being an athlete are so transferable to all parts of life. To get to where you want to be you need to work hard, be committed and above all practise, and that is so crucial for achieving well in your studies.”